That’s what a Macomb County jury determined Friday after deliberating for several hours, convicting Reiner of felony murder and home invasion in the death of Joann Eisenhardt of Macomb Township.

Reiner’s attorney, Tim Barkovic, claimed that Reiner didn’t have time to break into Eisenhardt’s home, stab her twice in the neck, ransack the place and steal two pieces of jewelry, based on two witnesses seeing him 17 minutes apart more than 1,000 feet from her home in February 2011.

But assistant Macomb prosecutor William Cataldo proved that 17 minutes was all the time the convicted criminal needed. Reiner acted quickly in his brutal assault of the defenseless older woman.

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“He was only inside the house a minute or so,” Cataldo said after the verdict. “He needs to be locked up. He’s shown he can’t keep his hands off other people’s property and clearly can’t maintain his composure.”

A dozen of Eisenhardt’s family members and friends cried tears of relief and hugged each other shortly after the verdict was announced.

“It’s like a ton of bricks got lifted off,” said Eisenhardt’s eldest son, Howard, 49, of Roseville, outside the courtroom. “This is a very emotional time for us. Our mother didn’t deserve to die the way she did.”

Reiner, who was on parole for a 2006 home invasion and assault, nervously swiveled in his chair as the jury foreman read the verdict.

Reiner will be ordered to prison for life without parole by Judge Peter J. Maceroni of Macomb County Circuit Court when he is sentenced Halloween day.

“One thing is for sure, Joseph Reiner can’t do this any more,” Eisenhardtadded. “The cycle of his behavior is broken, hopefully forever. “

Reiner failed to escape conviction despite using make-up to hide two devil horn tattoos on his forehead for the trial, Eisenhardt said..

Howard, who along with his two brothers, Joseph and James, grew up in the house where their mother was killed, said he maintained confidence in the jury despite “the tight time-line issues in there.”

Reiner was seen by witness and Eisenhardt neighbor Alan Pauli at 9:50 a.m. on Fairchild walking toward and about a half mile from Eisenhardt’s house. At 10:07 a.m., another neighbor, Thomas Kosciolek, who was driving, saw Reiner walking on 22 Mile away from Eisenhardt’s home and about 1,000 feet away. Kosciolek, acting as a Good Samaritan, picked up Reiner in his vehicle due to the extremely cold temperatures. Kosciolek stopped at his credit union at Gratiot and Hall Road at 10:12 a.m. and drove Reiner to 15 Mile and Gratiot, where Reiner took a bus to Eastpointe and sold Eisenhardt’s ring and necklace for $2.

Eisenhardt dial 911 at 10:12 a.m. and told police she had been assaulted. Emergency personnel arrived to find two kitchen steak knives in her neck. They were removed at McLaren Macomb Hospital in Mount Clemens.

Howard Eisenhardt among his several thank-yours for law enforcement and medical officials thanked Kosciolek, calling him his mother’s “angel” because his contact of police and testimony led to Reiner’s arrest and conviction.

“We probably wouldn’t be here today” without him, he said.

Barkovic argued that Eisenhardt didn’t die from the stabbing injuriesbut rather from natural causes due to multiple health issues.

But jurors were swayed by county Medical Examiner Daniel Spitz who said she died from complications from the injuries.

About the Author

My beat is the courts of Macomb County and general assignment.
Read more of Jameson Cook's court coverage on his blog http://courthousedish.blogspot.com/ Reach the author at jamie.cook@macombdaily.com
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